Ambulatory emergency care in hospitals is at an all-time low in 2020. In the following year, the numbers rise again, but have not yet reached the level before the corona pandemic.
After the temporary decline during the corona pandemic, the number of emergencies treated as outpatients in hospitals rose again last year. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office, clinics in Germany had to take care of around 9.8 million outpatient emergencies in 2021 - 3.9 percent more than in 2020. On average, around 26,800 people were treated in the emergency outpatient department of a hospital every day last year.
For comparison: The number of inpatient treatment cases in 2021 was around 16.7 million. Of the 1,886 hospitals in Germany, around 1,555 operated an emergency department last year. That was 39 more clinics than in the previous year.
The corona pandemic had led to a decline in treatments in the emergency rooms. “Patients probably avoided visiting an emergency room if possible. Presumably, the reduction in mobility and physical activity also led to fewer accidents,” the statisticians suspect.
In 2020, the number of outpatient emergency treatments totaled 9.4 million, the lowest level since records began in 2018. In 2019, 10.9 million outpatient emergencies were treated, in 2018 around 11.7 million. There was a similar decline in patients treated as inpatients.
